Box-office buzz, sales can't buy Oscar nods

'Passion,' 'Fahrenheit' shut out for best picture

January 28, 2005|By Los Angeles Times.

HOLLYWOOD — "The Passion of the Christ" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" might have been the year's most-talked-about movies, yet one group that seemed uninterested in the religion, politics and controversy the two pictures embraced was the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which opted to leave both out of the race for a best picture Oscar.

"Passion," which Mel Gibson financed himself, earned $370 million at the domestic box office, while Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" took in $119 million, the most ever for a documentary, making the omissions a striking illustration of the notion that popularity does not necessarily correlate with Oscar success. The combined total domestic gross of the five best picture nominees was less than $205 million.

Yet as with almost everything to do with these pictures, few can agree about why they were left out. While the vagaries of Oscar campaigns and rules seem to have worked against Gibson and Moore, some insiders argue that Oscar balloting is a relatively straightforward meritocracy--the community simply liked other pictures better. Others point to a lingering distaste among some voters for Gibson's public pronouncements during the film's release publicity campaign.

"There were pictures that people liked more than those. I would not read into it a political message," said Martin Kaplan, a dean of the University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Communication.

Others are not so sure, such as Bob Berney, president of Newmarket Films, which handled the domestic release of "Passion." "It has always been a populist anti-Hollywood movie. It was a long shot with the academy for obvious political reasons," Berney said. "The film didn't get reviewed or appreciated as much as it should have because they were reviewing Mel's personal politics."

Although the academy left Gibson's film out of the running for the top prizes, it did honor other aspects of the movie's craft, bestowing upon it nominations for cinematography, makeup and original score.

Gibson chose not to campaign for the award, eschewing Oscar ads and parties, although he did send out 7,000 to 8,000 DVDs and sponsor screenings. By contrast, "Fahrenheit 9/11" might have attracted political travelers in Hollywood, but Moore scorched its Oscar chances by taking it out of the best documentary feature competition.

"It was Michael's decision, and we supported him 100 percent," said Tom Ortenberg, president of Lion's Gate Film Releasing, which released the film domestically.